Dewey Ballantine and Davis Polk & Wardwell are the latest US firms to benefit from the revival in contentious M&A activity after scooping the lead roles on Comcast’s $66bn (£35.3bn) hostile bid for Walt Disney.

Comcast announced its surprise bid on 11 February in a deal that would see the cable and media group take on $11.9bn (£6.36bn) of the iconic entertainment group’s debt.